Climate change and NZ’s freshwaters: NIWA presentation, Friday

For those of you in or around Ōtautahi/Christchurch, I will be giving a presentation on climate change and the future of New Zealand’s freshwaters on Friday (tomorrow), 3:30 pm, at NIWA’s Kyle St site. I’ll talk about what we know and what we don’t know about the potential implications for the freshwater system, including water quantity and quality, ecology, and management. I’ll also discuss the more pressing avenues and what adaptation options different stakeholders may adopt. Ka kite ano!

Pity the meeting didn’t have the latest issue of Canterbury Farming to chew on. Front page headline is “Global warming fraud passing into history”. The piece is authored by Hugh De Lacy. Bryan Leyland is quoted extensively. According to this article the research of Auckland Univeristy scientists, using NASA satellite data, apparently, ” Showed that cloud cover around the world dropped 1%, or between 30 and 40mm in the last decade of the last century” WTF! Cloud cover in millimetres? Would some climate science professionals care to comment?

Hi Miles. I looked at that article, but it actually has no bearing on the topic. There was no mention of implications for freshwaters in NZ. The article is really about climate science denial which is outside the scope of Waiology, I’m sorry. There are other Scibloggers who cover that.

As for the quote with cloud cover in millimetres, I would have to guess (I’m a hydrologist, so perhaps vertical cloud thickness in liquid water equivalents?). It would be best to go to the source (journal article) to be certain; I’m sure the authors would have defined it. Again, a bit outside the scope here. [DC]

Hi Daniel
I get your point and when I was writing I thought ” This isn’t immediately relevant” but:
Trying to comment on a blog lying closer to the article in the paper turned into a nightmare of futilely writing the 2 words I could see only to be knocked back; and,
The big headline of ” Global Warming Fraud..” would at least impinge upon your work and the subject of your talk. To me, that piece reeked of boilerplate denial.
Anyway thanks for feedback and all the best for the future.
Cheers
Miles

Thanks, Miles. Yes, the difficult thing here is delineation/turf. Neighbouring disciplines will inevitably bleed into one another, and climate and hydrology are just a few blocks apart, but where do you stop? The thing is, Waiology really does have enough to chew on with just water! [DC]

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